Fixture

Mountain Ash Youth 17 - Brecon Youth 19

Brecon Youth are Crowned HOW Champions with a Last Gasp Winning Score

This year’s Heart of Wales Youth Final was a repeat of last year. With Mountain Ash having won the cup for the last two years, Brecon were keen to turn the tide and add a cup to the league title they won two weeks ago.

Mountain Ash play their rugby in a league above Brecon and were hot favourites to lift the cup for the third year in a row. With this as the background all of Brecon’s large travelling support realised Brecon faced a very difficult task. The team, however, headed for Merthyr in a confident mood, excited by the challenge and boosted by the support contained in two buses and many cars full of Brecon’s supporters.

Dafydd Edwards failed his fitness test minutes before kick off, forcing coaches to reshuffle their squad with the hope that the disruption would not affect Brecon’s concentration.

The first ten minutes was typical of many finals, with both teams testing each other and looking for any areas of weakness that could be exploited. During that period Brecon got the first score with a Huw Thomas penalty

Mountain Ash responded immediately with an interception try which was converted. In turn, Brecon responded with a Huw Thomas try, created by a great break by outside half Gareth Price. The score gave Brecon a narrow eight point to seven lead at the break.

The opening phases of the second half were dominated by Mountain Ash. They turned pressure into points with a penalty and a converted try to give themselves a healthy nine point cushion with barely fifteen minutes remaining. Brecon's resolve was undoubtedly going to be tested in the final quarter.

A hand-full of changes were made, some tactical and others forced through injury. The effect was immediate. Brecon started to get the go-forward ball they desired and began to get themselves back into the game. They were rewarded with two Huw Thomas penalties before the decisive moment arrived. Josh Hamilton came away from a maul with ball in hand and gained fifteen metres as he burst past the floundering defenders, before off-loading to Ben Griffin. Ben used his incredible pace to get around the outside and squeeze in at the corner for the vital score.

It appeared Brecon had done enough and the cup was theirs but Mountain Ash had not read the script. They got themselves within fifteen meters of the Brecon line, directly in front of the posts, with their full back in the pocket ready slot the drop goal. As the ball was passed to the full back he set himself for the kick and a deathly hush descend right across the ground. The kick swerved to the left of the posts. The final whistle was blown and the Brecon celebrations began.

It was an ugly win, Brecon gifted Mountain Ash two tries, but one thing that could not be doubted was the desire in this Brecon side. They all worked tirelessly to get themselves back in front and eventually take the spoils

The pack was outstanding. Josh Pritchard was rightly named MOM for his outstanding contribution, while Sam Maggs also caught the eye with another stand out performance.

As the dust settled on yet another historic day in the history of Brecon RFC all of the squad and coaches should be congratulated for playing their part in a fabulous cup tie which entertained the crowd throughout. It is a game that we will look back on in years to come and say, “I was there.”

Well done boys, a great win and fun day out for all involved in Brecon RFC. A special big thank you to Belluno RFC after travelling all the way from Northern Italy to be part of incredible cup win and to cheer the boys on from the stand.